�Who Says You Can�t Teach an Old Dog a New Trick or Two�

Today at the gym one of my sons mentioned a friend of his had 3 weeks left to live, he has terminal cancer. I said, “maybe you need to tell your friend that his time left in human form is not solely dependent upon a doctor’s guestimation, but more so, on his choice, whether to let go of his human form or to stay, summon his inner strength to overcome his ailment and then seek to find out what greater task he has been spared for?”

It can be a hard thing for people believe that they have some choice as to when their life will come to an end, but it’s my experience that we do. I have witnessed numerous people overcome medical predictions of certain death and gone on to live for years — but I have also witnessed many follow their doctor’s predictions to a “T” and bid adieu.

I guess believing you have a choice is like having faith – if you have it you have a chance – if you don’t – YOU DON’T. I don’t know about you but I like the thought of having a choice!

Below is a story from my book – sometimes we just have to reprogram the computer.

The following text has been taken from the book “Your Second Fifty” www.ysfshopping.com

I’ve been blessed with a number of truly amazing experiences in my life; however, none more impressive or enlightening than the one that happened about twelve years ago in Nashville, Tennessee.

Five years after my sons’ eventful summer of singing on the Victoria causeway, they found themselves signing a major label recording contract with Polydor Records in Nashville. While living in Nashville we would take the opportunity to, once a month, sing at the children’s hospital.

During one of those visits after the boys had performed, I asked the hospital’s PR representative if there were any shut-ins and could we possibly go to their room and sing them a song or two.  After checking she said that there were indeed a couple of kids we could visit. After singing to the two children we were walking down the hall on our way out of the hospital, and I noticed a little girl about three or four years old lying in a bed.

I asked the nurse if we could sing for her and she said she didn’t think it was a good idea because the little girl only had a couple of weeks left to live. I have said before I didn’t always have my emotions in check, so I proceeded to say with a somewhat challenging tone, “Well, ask the mom?” The nurse refused, and my voice began to rise as I said, “If she only has two weeks left why do you want to prevent her from experiencing something so positive and uplifting?” Just then the doctor walked by and asked what the problem was?  I explained that I thought that the nurse should ask the mother if the boys could sing for her daughter.  The doctor responded by saying, “Let me ask.” Thankfully, the mother invited us in. The boys introduced themselves to this frail little girl and proceeded to sing a song on their album that Garth Brooks had written: “When God Made You.” Everyone broke into tears. Then the boys sang a little ditty that Clint (one of the triplets) and I had written called: “With a Little Smile.” Then everyone was back to smiling. As we were leaving the room, I realized I had one of the boy’s CD’s with me, so I went back and asked her if she would like it. She nodded and I gave it to her. I then told her that we were going out on the road to sing but if she was there when we got back in four weeks, I would give her the boy’s other CD.

When we got back off of the road, I had the record label book us another show at the hospital. After the show we walked down to her ward to see if she was still there, CD in hand.  We had just opened the doors to the ward and the head nurse came over to us and said, “She’s been asking for that CD every day since you guys left.”

She had made it past the two weeks, so I came up with another idea. I told her that in two months the boys would be doing a show with Toby Keith in downtown Nashville and that if she could get strong enough to leave the hospital, I would get her front row tickets to the concert. Two months later she was sitting front row. After that show we headed out to Las Vegas and didn’t get back until November. When we returned to Nashville, we had the record label again schedule a show at the hospital, and after the show we went straight to her ward. When we got there the nurse we spoke to said she was gone. Our hearts all dropped, and she then realized what she had said and corrected herself saying, “No, no she’s gone home.”

After that we moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and then to Branson, Missouri, and then spent five years touring the world.  We never saw that little girl again, but we learned a very valuable lesson – she believed, when others didn’t, and she survived. She is a miracle.

Everyday we are all witnesses to miracles, some small some incredible. Ive learned to accept them for what they are and not try to intellectualize them away.  Now I work at accepting life as it unfolds each day. I’ve taken my turn at playing God in my life, (challenging others to do things my way, because I knew what was best for them) but to be honest I didn’t do a very good job of it. So from here on out, I think I’ll just try and follow my higher power’s queue and respect others to make their own best decisions and choices.